“You might’ve heard that the first part of the fantastic, gripping new series of Stranger Things has recently been released on Netflix. It features the song, ‘Running Up That Hill’ which is being given a whole new lease of life by the young fans who love the show – I love it too!” the English musician, 63, wrote in a rare statement on her website last Sunday, May 29.
That Memorial Day weekend, the Netflix powerhouse sci-fi horror-drama released its much-anticipated fourth season. Throughout, the character Max (Sadie Sink) is targeted by the latest big bad, “Vecna,” due to the trauma she’s suffered. Possessed to floating capabilities by Vecna’s will, her ragtag assemblage of Upside Down-reversing friends soon recognizes playing Max’s favorite song, the mid-80s period accurate “Running Up That Hill,” returns her to base.
Thus, a “needle-drop” for a recurring motif was born.
Having cracked the UK Top 10 charts at the time, Bush’s singular track has re-emerged once more – debuting at Number 8 in the UK thanks to the clockwork popularity of the series and the song’s palpable translation with younger, “Gen Z” audiences via TikTok.
This is not the first time “Running Up That Hill” has reclaimed the zeitgeist, either, but is definitely its most notable post-initial release victory lap. Beyond a few genre-bending covers, the song saw a return to the charts after its remixed inclusion in the concluding ceremony of the London-set 2012 Summer Olympics. The bridge to the final chorus of R & B renaissance man The Weeknd’s second Number One single in the US, 2015’s “The Hills,” also bears a strong aesthetical resemblance to Bush’s US Top 30-performer in more ways than one.
This is also not the first time an iconic song has found second life, or a delayed appreciation. As The Messenger reported in December, Taylor Swift’s 10-minute extended version of 2012’s “All Too Well” broke the Guinness World Record for the longest song ever to reach Number One in the US when it dominated the charts the week of November 27, 2021. Swift’s accomplishment came a full decade after the original record’s release.
Ever the crowd-pleaser, 1975’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen has Wayne’s World (1992) and the rock band’s Academy Award-winning biopic of the same name to thank for its own ascensions back to the charts; in addition to second-to-none vocalist’s Freddie Mercury’s AIDS-related 1991 death.
“Perfect Day” by Freeport native glam rocker, Lou Reed, failed to chart in 1972. But, when cut to Ewan McGregor’s ultra-memorable non-fatal overdose scene in Danny Boyle’s punky 1996 cult classic, Trainspotting, the song was rewarded for hanging on. Its lyrics especially have earned new, unintended interpretations by a drug user-turned-straight-laced subculture.
Lastly, “Don’t Stop Believin’” was explicitly of and for its early 80s times before network TV helped Scrubs and Family Guy viewers fall back in love with the ballad of the small-town girl and the city boy. Then, when cable grew involved, its constant circulation and playback at every Sweet 16, wedding, Boardy Barn bash and other mass leisure gatherings was utterly solidified. Journey’s Number 133-ranked slot on Rolling Stone Magazine’s 2021-revised Top 500 course corrected its omission from the list altogether in 2004. Such is the power of Tony Soprano’s tabletop jukebox musical tastes.
The first seven episodes of Stranger Things — Season 4 are currently streaming on Netflix. The final two will be released to commemorate the weekend of July 4. Until then, happy binging!
